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24 January 2011

ECON committee - rapporteurs present their reports on the economic governance package


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This Committee meeting marks an important milestone, as it officially opens the draft reports for a public discussion among all Members of ECON.


The legislative package is made up of six pieces of legislation: four proposals deal with fiscal issues, including a wide-ranging reform of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), while two new regulations aim at detecting and addressing effectively emerging macroeconomic imbalances within the EU and the Euro Area. 

Rapporteurs Corien Wortmann-Kool and Diogo Feio took the lead in the reform of economic governance when presenting their Reports on the strengthening and surveillance of budgetary and economical policies. Backed by the European Commission and the European Central Bank, the MEPs want to toughen up budget rules and sanctions to prevent future debt crises and the destabilisation of the euro.

  For the first time, Parliament is co-deciding with the Council on macro-economic developments in the European Union. Rapporteur Corien Wortmann-Kool said: "We need an improved economic governance framework which should be built on a stronger national ownership of commonly agreed rules and policies, and on a more robust surveillance framework at European level of national economic policies."

Mrs Wortmann-Kool proposes strengthening the community method and a strong and independent European Commission to oversee and to give directions as soon as possible in the process.

Mrs Wortmann-Kool continued: "Member States will be required to present stability and convergence programmes outlining their plans to achieve medium-term budgetary objectives. We must ensure that revenue windfalls are not spent but are instead used for debt reduction."

  An important aspect is the strengthening of the community method and increasing transparency and accountability at EU level. Mrs Wortmann-Kool wants to introduce the 'reverse voting' mechanism to strengthen the role of the Commission and reduce the influence of individual Member States regarding essential decisions on their own stability programmes, and that the Commission can make its own recommendations if a Member State doesn't have a prudent fiscal policy.

  Diogo Feio is rapporteur on the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure. He stresses that the introduction of the new European Economic Semester has to be included in legal texts. In correspondence with Mrs Wortmann-Kool's Report, he also wants to reinforce the role of the European Commission. The decision-making procedure, based on reversed qualified majority in the Council, should be introduced both in the preventive and corrective parts of the new economic governance legislation. Diogo Feio said: "There should be as little room as possible for political bargaining in the Council or between a Member State and the Commission.
 
Draft report on amendment of Regulation (EC) Nr. 1467/97 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure (Link)
Draft report on prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances (Link)
Draft report on effective enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the Euro Area (Link)
Draft report on enforcement measures to correct excessive macroeconomic imbalances in the Euro Area (Link)
Draft report on requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States (Link)
 



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